The Folio Book of Ghost Stories

by Kathryn Hughes (Introduction), David McConochie (Illustrator), Charles Dickens

In this collection, newly compiled by The Folio Society, ghost stories by well-known raconteurs of the paranormal such as Dickens and M. R. James sit alongside a selection of tales by modern writers, all of whom use the best-loved hallmarks of the ghost story with precision: dilapidated houses and taciturn servants; creaking floorboards and mysterious figures; hair-raising sightings of beings by turns benevolent, evil, or so alien as to defy comprehension. All shades of the dark are explored here, from the crawling horror of Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Captain of the ‘Pole-Star’’ to Shirley Jackson’s pleasantly chilling ‘A Visit’. With stories from writers such as Ambrose Bierce, Vladimir Nabokov, A. S. Byatt and F. Marion Crawford, this is a collection indeed destined to haunt its readers.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Classics, Gothic, Fiction

296 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2015

About the author

Kathryn Hughes is a British journalist and biographer. She holds a PhD in Victorian History. She is a contributing editor to Prospect magazine as well as a book reviewer and commentator for the Guardian and BBC Radio. Hughes also teaches biographical studies at University of East Anglia in Norwich, U.K.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Charles Edwards-Freshwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely give short story collections a full five star rating, but this is an excellently curated selection of stories and none of them were anything less than a 4 star.

I particularly liked that there was a real mix of ghost stories from across the last 100 years or so - many of which were by authors that I love including Conan Doyle and Jackson, as well as other authors I'd never read before.

Personal highlights were The Monkey's Paw, A Visit, The Visit To The Museum and The July Ghost, but all were great fun with many of the stories being genuinely quite haunting.

Definitely recommended for lovers of spooky stories!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

As one would expect of a compilation of short stories, The Folio Book of Ghost Stories delivers across a spectrum in terms of atmosphere, intrigue, plot, well-developed characters etc.

Whilst some stories (like The Tale of an Empty House and Other Ghost Stories by E.F. Benson, and The July Ghost by A.S. Byatt) are satisfyingly self-contained, strange, or sad (or all three!), I didn't feel that any had quite sufficient length to build up the levels of tension a great ghost story demands, if it is going to actively frighten the reader. This is not to say I've never been scared by a short story (only the other day Neil Gaiman's performance of Click-Clack the Rattlebag was successful in that endeavour!); only that many of these tales felt distant and tepid somehow, without the depth a longer story could use to entangle a reader. That said, plenty enough felt uncanny, giving me pause for thought. Also, the illustrations, by David McConochie, are absolutely creepy and other-worldly and befitting of a ghost story collection!

I enjoyed all the stories with a nautical flavour (Arthur Conan Doyle's The Captain of the Pole-Star, F. Marion Crawford's The Upper Berth, and George Mackay Brown's Andrina and Other Stories) - what can I say? I'm a sucker for a boat ghost!

Penelope Fitzgerald's The Axe was notable, in that it managed to not be utterly dull despite the opening sentence: "You will recall that when the planned redundancies became necessary as a result of the discouraning trading figures shown by this small firm - in contrast, so I gather from the Company reports, with several of your other enterprises - you personally deputed to me the task of 'speaking' to those who were to be asked to leave."

Furthermore, I can now tick The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs off the list of references from The Simpsons I now fully appreciate!

To level with you, my favourite ghost stories are Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (Note that The Signalman - story number 1 herein - whilst atmospheric, is sadly lacking in festive cheer!), Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost, and Josephine Leslie's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, so perhaps the real issue for me was a lack of sentimentality - a quality not oft sought after, or indeed found, in your typical spooky fiction. Nevertheless a net positive reading experience.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview and introduction to the field. I have shelves of ghost story titles, so I had the contents in other volumes. Even so, good stories deserve another read. As usual, the Folio edition is attractive and well made. I would certainly recommend this as a gift, or an introduction to the field.

[Dan Brewer-Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very well-written and, in the best sense, distracting tales, unfortunately hampered by frequent stagnation.

[Yinzadi]

Table of Contents
The Signalman by Charles Dickens
The Captain of the Pole-Star by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford
The Eyes of the Panther by Ambrose Bierce
The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
The Watcher by R.H. Benson
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by M.R. James
August Heat by W.F. Harvey
The Cigarette Case by Oliver Onions
Bone to His Bone by E.G. Swain
Mr. Jones by Edith Wharton
A Tale Of An Empty House by E.F. Benson
One Who Saw by A.M. Burrage
The Visit to the Museum by Vladimir Nabokov
The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen
A Visit: A Ghost Story for Christmas by Shirley Jackson
The Axe by Penelope Fitzgerald
The July Ghost by A.S. Byatt
Andrina by George Mackay Brown

[Samantha van Buuren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a perfectly spooky collection of ghost stories from @foliosociety. I had already read two included in the book when I picked it up, those being The Signalman by Charles Dickens and One Who Saw by A. M. Burrage, both of which I loved so I had high expectations for the rest and, mostly, I was not disappointed!

I'll start with the negatives. I did not enjoy The Eyes Of The Panther by Ambrose Bierce, the Treasure of Abbot Thomas by M. R. James, nor The Cigarette Case by Oliver Onions. All three for the same reason. Not much happens and they were a little boring.

But, I really enjoyed all the others! Special mentions specifically have to go to The Upper Birth by F. Marion Crawford, The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs and Mr Jones by Edith Warton.

Mr Jones in particular will definitely stick with me. The way it just ends like that drove me crazy! This should not be a short story, it should be an entire novel! A novel that would scare me enough to keep me awake at night but I'd read it anyway!!

I also loved The July Ghost but for different reasons. While the others were full of atmosphere, disturbing and creepy, this one was just heart breaking. A great story but so incredibly sad.

This book was a wonderful October read and I would highly recommend it to anyone who's after some good ghost stories to get them through the season!

[Lino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some few of these do flow nicely. The suspense is there. The characters are interesting, or at least weird enough that you want to know where the story is going. Some others are so stilted they're painful to read. But mostly they're okay, though forgettable.

One thing that's funny is how a few of these stories unsuccessfully try a plot-twist, or a last page reveal. I think the horror genre has repeated the same things so many times that it's hard to surprise anyone.

[Charlie W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Released in 2015, this 273-page book contains 19 ghost stories, including works by E. F. Benson, W. W. Jacobs, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Charles Dickens. It is a brilliant introduction for those interested in ghost stories / supernatural tales.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Eligos Vespillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of the best ghost stories ever written by masters of their craft, hauntingly David McConochie.